Cambodia has moved to impose some of the world’s toughest penalties on online scam operations, many of which are powered by crypto—but experts warn the crackdown is more likely to “displace the industry than destroy it.”

The country’s National Assembly on Monday unanimously passed a draft law targeting cyber scams, introducing prison terms of up to life for those running large-scale fraud networks, according to an ABC News report.

All 112 lawmakers present backed the legislation, which now awaits Senate review before final approval by King Norodom Sihamoni.

The law arrives as Cambodia races to meet a self-imposed April deadline to eradicate all scam centers, and amid mounting international pressure following Interpol's designation of scam compound networks as a global transnational threat.

Under the law, scam bosses face 15 to 30 years, or life imprisonment if their operations result in deaths, while ringleaders could receive between five and 10 years in prison, or up to 20 years and steep fines in cases involving violence, trafficking, or forced labor.

Lower-level scammers face two to five years behind bars and fines of up to $125,000.

Crypto pipeline

Scam networks running pig-butchering investment fraud and romance scams have become a growing problem in Southeast Asia. Often operating from compounds and relying on coerced labor, the networks have collectively extracted tens of billions of dollars annually from victims worldwide, with crypto enabling rapid cross-border movement and layering through OTC networks.

Huione Group, a Cambodia-based conglomerate whose former chairman was arrested by Chinese authorities this week, allegedly processed over $4 billion in illicit crypto proceeds before the U.S. Treasury designated it a primary money laundering concern.

"These scam networks are highly portable. They can move people, scripts, call-center infrastructure, laundering channels, and management teams across borders very quickly,” David Sehyeon Baek, a cybercrime consultant, told Decrypt.

"The real test is whether Cambodia goes after official complicity, politically connected compound owners, money-laundering facilitators, and the business infrastructure behind the compounds," he said, pointing to the need for anti-corruption enforcement, asset tracing, tighter casino oversight, and cross-border intelligence sharing.

Baek said crypto is now “central to many of the higher-value scam models,” enabling fast cross-border movement and laundering, though he added it has not replaced traditional rails, describing the ecosystem as “hybrid” where banks, shell firms, and informal networks still play a role.



Global enforcement actions

Earlier this year, Taiwanese prosecutors indicted 62 individuals over alleged ties to networks linked to Chen Zhi, who was arrested in Cambodia and extradited to China, accused of orchestrating large-scale pig butchering scams and laundering hundreds of millions through shell companies, underground remittances, and crypto-linked channels.

U.S. authorities pursued forfeiture of more than 127,000 BTC tied to such operations, one of the largest seizures in Department of Justice history, while also sanctioning entities across Cambodia and Myanmar linked to scam networks that cost victims more than $10 billion in 2024 alone.

A U.S. cross-agency strike force reported freezing or seizing roughly $580 million in crypto linked to scam operations across Southeast Asia, pointing to the scale of enforcement efforts targeting digital asset flows.

Amnesty International warned in January that mass escapes from Cambodian scam compounds have triggered a humanitarian crisis, with thousands of trafficking victims left stranded without passports, medical care, or support after fleeing abusive conditions.

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